Incorporated in August 1990, Public Information Network, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, doing business as RTPnet.

System Administrators: Amnon Nissan and Ron Bickers, of Deltaforce Technologies, replaced the previous System Administrators:

• Judy Hallman <hallman at rtpnet.org> or <hallman at email.unc.edu>
  Executive Director
• Charles Hall <Charles.Hall at sas.com> or <chall at rtpnet.org>
  Lead System Administrator
• Roger Austin <rda at rti.org>
  Provided maintenance for Mailman email lists.
• Nancy Shoemaker <shoemaker at acm.org>
  Maintained email aliases associated with domain names
• Errol Casey <errol at nouce.net>
  Served as System Administrator from 1998 through 2001 and continued to provide support as a consultant.

RTPnet thanks them all for their service. Ron is now responsible for systems maintenance, and Amnon is the contact person for RTPnet hosting services and keeps the RTPnet Web site up-to-date.

Membership: RTPnet Membership, currently 137, decreased by nine during 2006 — lost 24 and gained 15. See Appendix: 2006 Membership Changes for lists of new and lost members.

Open Source Content Management System Workshop: RTPnet hosted an Open Source Content Management System Workshop, November 2, which was lead by John Kenyon, www.johnkenyon.org. The 30 participants came from many different backgrounds, from small non-profits to IT people from UNC-CH who work with various departments at UNC. The morning session covered Open Source Content Management Systems and Constituent Relationship Management Systems with an overview of Drupal. The afternoon focused on CiviCRM concepts, functions, and management and included online, interactive exercises using CiviCRM. Judy Hallman (RTPnet) wrapped up the workshop describing some local development in Drupal/CiviCRM on RTPnet. The workshop was held in Duke University's Schiciano Auditorium, Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences (FCIEMAS). The space was provided by Connected NC, a full service and support IT company located in the Triangle, that specializes in technology for small business and nonprofit organizations. Hosting this workshop was valuable to all the participants and also good publicity for RTPnet. Income - $3,644.00, Expenses - 3,315.00, Profit - $ 329.00.

RTPnet Archives: One of RTPnet's goals for 2006 was: Complete archiving electronic and paper records for RTPnet and community networking. This project has been completed. RTPnet's well-organized collection of electronic files, not only of its own development, but also of the development of the Internet and community networking, is available at ibiblio.org/rtpnet. The paper archives have been received and processed by the Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and their finding aid for the collection is available at Collection Number 5297.

Marketing RTPnet Services: Marketing efforts included:

• Promoted RTPnet's services, particularly the Workshop, through Amnon Nissan's radio show.
• Placed an advertisement in the NC Center for Nonprofits' conference program (page 89 of 92).
• Added information about RTPnet to the Triangle Community Foundation's Web site.

New Email List for Members: Amnon Nissan created a new email list of contacts for members.

Newsletter: Michael Rulison initiated a newsletter that is distributed to the email list of member contacts.

New Billing System: Michael Rulison led efforts to find and install billing (membership renewal) software. In 2007 RTPnet will begin using phpCOIN, which enables members to maintain their own member information.

Tech LinkUp Put on Hold: The Tech LinkUp site (TechLinkUp.org) stopped working when its hosting service (1PlanHost.Com) upgraded their services. There were no longer any volunteers to support the project and the implementation had not been working well anyhow (volunteers were not linking up with nonprofit technology needs). So RTPnet deleted the Web site and released the domain. A copy of the Web site is in the RTPnet archives, along with other archival information. Judy Hallman is looking at the possibility of using social networking software, such as Drupal, for an upgraded level of Tech LinkUp.

• Association For Community Networking (AFCN)
• Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet)
• N.C. Center for Nonprofits
• Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (N-TEN)
• TechCoop

• Bob Sams and Judy Hallman attended the 15th Annual Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) Conference, Washington, DC, July 26-29.
• Bob Sams and Michael Rulison attended the N.C. Center for Nonprofits Statewide Conference, September 20-22, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park.
• Marjorie Fowler, Judy Hallman, Mike Rulison, and Bob Sams attended the Open Source Content Management System Workshop, November 2.

Checking Account Balance on 12/31/05:    $6,978.93           
Certificate of Deposit on 12/31/05:      $5,293.10
Total Assets on 12/31/05:               $12,272.03

Checking Account Income:                $12,814.00 
Total Expenses:                         $11,250.59
                                       
Checking Account Balance on 12/31/06:    $8,542.33            
Certificate of Deposit on 12/31/06:      $5,475.71
Total Assets on 12/31/06:               $14,018.04

Board Changes:

• Lucy Haagen resigned from the board.
• Mark W. Ishman and Thomas D. Wason joined the board.
• Judy Hallman resigned as President and announced plans to resign from the board in March 2007.
• Michael Rulison was elected President. Jerry Winegarden, Bob Sams, and Marjorie Fowler were re-elected as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary respectively.

Accomplishments:

• Survey membership: Marjorie Fowler and Bob Sams conducted a member survey. Email surveys were sent to 126 members. 20 RTPnet organizations completed surveys.

• Expand Board and Advisors Council: One of RTPnet's goals for 2006 was Revitalize the organization: Expand the Advisors Council and Board of Directors. Two Board members and four Advisors were added in 2006. Several more people are being interviewed for possible participation in 2007. The Bylaws were changed to allow more Board members. Instead of restricting the size of the Board to nine members, the new Bylaws allow the size of the Board to vary from three to 13.

• Future directions: The Board and Advisors discussed possible future directions for RTPnet. An area of considerable interest, proposed by Tom Wason, is an RTPnet hosting service offering a "managed space" for "communities of practice." The idea is that many of our customers are groups made up of individuals who all want to communicate with each other in many different ways about their shared interest. RTPnet could set up some levels of services (templates) to offer at different prices. These new services could attract new members.

• Experiment with communication tools: As part of its goal to Continue to find ways to assist nonprofit organizations and their technology support people, Board members experimented with wikis, blogs, and content management systems, as well as Web-based forums and email lists, in an effort to determine how these tools can be used for better communication and document management for RTPnet and its members.

• Drupal/CiviCRM demo: Judy Hallman and Israel Pattison gave a presentation for the Board, Advisors and a few invited members, September 28, at the Wake County West Regional Library, about their experiences with Drupal/CiviCRM, including a demo of NCcommunities.org, a new website that Judy set up to try out the software. The presentation outline is online.

• Certificate of appreciation: A certificate of appreciation was awarded to Charles Hall for his many years of service.

• Tech for Success: RTPnet donated $120 to fund the purchase of computers from Triangle United Way for Tech for Success, a computer training and giveaway project sponsored by Public Allies. The project gave 13 teenagers from Passage Home their first personal computers.

Members:

• Bilboa
• Caring House, Inc., Durham
• Christian Community in Action
• Durham Center Access
• Handicapped Encounter Christ
• Kids Together, Inc.
• NC-AAUP
• North Carolina Preservation Consortium
• Pocahontas Communications Cooperative
• redWHY.org
• Sams, Robert (personal member)
• St. Francis of Assisi RCIA
• Triangle Folk Dancing
• Wason, Thomas (personal member)

One Returned Member:

• Friends of Orange County Library ($25 membership, no hosting)

24 Canceled Membership:

• advent, Advent Lutheran Church, Chapel Hill
• asbhs, Apex Street Bridge Historical Society
• bith, Banjo in the Hollow
• chfm, Chapel Hill Friends Meeting
• csquest, Carolina Spirit Quest
• ctep, City-Wide Technology Enrichments Program (CTEP), Durham
• Haagen, Lucy
• kidz04, KidzConnect Computer Club
• ldcw, Life Decisions Coalition of Wake County
• momsclub, Durham Mothers Club
• nchunger, North Carolina Hunger Network
• nctacas, Triangle Area Chinese American Society
• ncvma, North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association
• newcomer, Newcomers Club of Raleigh
• nridge, North Ridge Alliance Church
• Pink House CTC, Charleston, SC
• Purple Elephant Computer Factory for KIDS!
• rwofcary, Republican Women of Cary
• slowfood, Slowfood--Research Triangle
• Technology Action Group (techaction)
• Triangle Area Employment Services
• whiteoak, White Oak Baptist Church
• Winegarden, Jerry
• WSSU Community Knowledge Centers